Punch board machine



Feb, 13, 1934. J, P. FREY 1,946,736

PUNCH BOARD MACHINE Filed Oct. 11, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVEN TOR.

1 FRfV A TTORNE Y.

Feb. 13, 1934. p; FREY 1,946,736

PUNCH BOARD MACHINE Filed 001;. 11, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. 55 PREV A TTORNE Y.

Patented Feb. 13, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE My invention relates to improvements in punch board machines, and one of its objects is to provide a ticket vending machine operable in combination with a removable punch-board.

A further object is the provision of a punch board machine having a compartment adapted for temporarily holding the ticket rolls punched from the punch-board by the player.

A still further object is to provide the roll holding compartment with a movable shelf whereby the same may be operatively tilted for discharging the punched ticket rolls from said compartment.

A still further object is to provide locking means operable by means of a key for operating the shelf of the ticket roll holding compartment. With the foregoing and still further objects and purposes in view which will appear as the description proceeds, my invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts and in the details of construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed can be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings- Figure 1 is a view in perspective of a punch board machine constructed in accordance with my invention;

Figure 2 is a sectional view on line 22' of Fig. 1;

Figure 3 shows a view in perspective of the upper left-hand corner of the cabinet or housing of the machine;

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the punchboard in blank form, showing a step in its construction;

Figure 5 is a view in perspective of the spacing cleat;

Figure 5-a is a front face view of the window;

Figure 6 is a cross section on line 6'-6' of Fig. 2;

Figure '7 is a view in perspective of the receiving receptacle;

Figure 8 is a perspective view of a portion of the upper end of the cabinet or housing of the machine;

Figure 9 is a view on line 99 of Fig. 2;

Figure 10 is a view in perspective of the lever assembly and the lower end portion of the ticket chute including the movable ticket receivin shelf; and

Figure 11 is a side view of the lever connect- 55. ing link.

Referring to the drawings in detail, throughout which like reference characters designate like parts:

The numerals 1, 2, 3 and 3-a, designate the bottom, rear wall, and the left and right walls, respectively, forming the major portions of the cabinet or housing of the present invention.

Ihe front wall or face of the cabinet comprises a lower transverse cleat 4 disposed at a distance above the bottom 1 whereby is formed an extended ticket-discharging opening 5, a viewing window 6 the lower edge of which seating on the cleat 4, a punch board '7 seating against said window, and a spacing cleat 8 seating against the punch board.

The punch board 7 and spacing cleat 8 are slidably disposed in opposed grooves 9, 9, formed by securing groove-forming cleats 10, 10, in spaced parallelism along opposed inner sides of the side walls 3, 3-11, adjacent their front margins.

The window 6, which comprises, preferably, a strip of transparent glass of suitable dimensions, also is disposed in the grooves 9, 9, which grooves are, however, narrowed from their inner sides at their lower extremities so that the cleats 10, 10, will bear firmly against opposite sides of the glass and hold it normally against accidental movement relative to the cleats.

At the top of the cabinet is a lid 11, which is secured at one end to the side wall 3 by means of hinges 12, and is provided at its opposite end with a hasp 13, which is normally secured by means of a pad-lock 14 to prevent opening of the lid by unauthorized persons.

On the inner sides of the side walls 3 and 3-11, adjacent their upper end portions, are secured supporting blocks 15, upon which removably seats a 2-part receiving receptacle 16 consisting of a coin compartment 17 and a ticket compartment 18. A coin slot 19, and a ticket opening 20, formed in the lid 11, communicate, respectively, with the interior of the coin compartment 17 and ticket compartment 18.

A ticket chute 21, provided with opposed flanges 22, 22, is secured, by means of screws or the like 23 extending through said flanges, to the inner sides of the side walls 3, S-a. The lower end or edge of the chute 21 forms the stationary portion of a hinge-joint 25, while the associating and relatively movable portion of said hinge-joint is formed on the inner edge of a chute shelf 26, the said portions being secured together in the usual manner by means of a hinge-pin 27.

A tilting lever 28 is fixedly secured at one end to the chute shelf 26, while its opposite end is pivotally secured to one end of a connecting link 29, which has its opposite end pivoted to the free end of an operating lever 30 fixedly secured at its opposite end to a rotatable bolt 31 of a lock 3l-a secured to the side wall 3-a, the said bolt being operable for rotation by means of a suitable key (not shown) from the exterior of the cabinet.

In the mid-portion of the punch board 7 are formed ticket holding openings 32, in each of which is initially deposited a ticket bearing a number. The tickets are prepared in rolls fitted snugly, but operatively removable, into the openings 32, preferably flush with the outer-surface or face of the punch board.

On the exterior surface of the punch board adjacent the margins thereof, are markings 33v representative of various sums of money, which markings bear numbers corresponding to the numbers on the ticket rolls secured in the openings 32, which latter mentioned numbers being invisible and unknown to the player until after the ticket has been punched out from its respective opening, removed from the cabinet and unrolled by the attendant having charge of the machine.

In operation: After one of the openings 32 containing a ticket has been selected by the player, the latter with the punching-tools provided him pushes or punches the ticket inwardly. out of the opening onto the chute 21 whence it rolls or falls onto the shelf 26, where it remains rolled up and as such visible through the window 6, the number it bears, if any, remaining unknown to the player. After the player has punched the desired number of tickets from the openings 32 and has paid the required charges charged therefor, the attendant tilts the chute shelf 26 downwards by operating the lock 32,-a until the ticket rolls fall from the shelf to the bottom 1, after which the attendant unrolls the ticket rolls for ascertaining the numbers, if any, thereon, and, if a number is found on one or more of the tickets corresponding with any of thenumbers on the markings 33, on the face of the punch board, a sum equaling the amount set forth on said marking is paid to the player.

When the attendant in charge of the machine is other than its, owner, the percentage payable to the owner for rental or the like thereof, is deposited in the coin compartment 17 of the receiving receptacle 16 through the slot 19, while such tickets on which prizes were paid are deposited in the ticket compartment 18 through the opening 20. The owner, or lessee, at his convenience, may then unlock the lid 11 for the removal of the receiving receptacle for the removal of the deposited tickets and coin from their respective compartments for examination thereof and a verification of the correctness of said deposits and of the cash prizespaid by the attendant to the players. Obviously, various rules re-,- lating to the methods of operation of the machine may be adopted and enforced by the owner.

The tilting of the chute shelf 26 for discharging the ticket rolls therefrom is effected by turning the operating key (not shown) in a clock-wise direction in the lock 31-a, thereby causing the operating lever 30, connecting link 29 and the tilting lever 28 to move from their normal position best shown in solid lines in Fig. 2, into the position shown by the broken lines in said figure, causing the chute shelf 26 to tilt downwards against an abutting cleat 34 and the ticket rolls to fall therefrom to the bottom 1, where they may be readily removed by the attendant.

The receiving receptacle 16 may be readily removed from the cabinet for removal of its contents, by simply lifting it up off its supporting blocks 15, 15.

It is to be understood that the openings 32 in which the ticket rolls are deposited, may be of any desired size appropriate for accommodating the par icular ticket rolls employed, and that any suitable number of said openings may be formed in the punch board, available space thereon alone limiting their number.

After all of the ticket rolls, or the desired number thereof, have been punched from the punch board, the latter may be removed for replacement with a new one by sliding it upwards out of the grooves 9, 9, after first opening the lid 11 and removing the spacing cleat 8. The object of employing the spacing cleat 8, and of which several of various widths may be furnished with each machine, is that it permits of the use of punch boards of various lengths, which may be found expedient when it is desired to change the particular size and number of the openings 32, as well as to change the characters marked thereon relating to the rules governing the operation of the machine, or lengthening or shorteningthe punch board for any other reason.

I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, a pair of spaced side Walls removably supporting a punchboard, a ticket chute disposed in spaced parallelism with said punchboard and sup ported bysaid side walls, a ticket-supporting shelf hinged to a lower portion of said ticket chute, and a connection between said ticket-supporting shelf and means projecting through one of said sidewalls, said means adapted for operating said connection and tilting said shelf relative to said chute.

2. In an upright punchboard machine of the character described, a pair of transversely spaced side Walls removably supporting a punchboard in an inclined position, an inclined ticket-chute disposed in spaced parallelism with said punch board and fixedly secured to said side walls, a ticket-supporting shelf, a hinge connection between said shelf and a lower portion of said ticket-chute, and a connection between said shelf and means secured to a mid portion of one of said walls, said means adapted to be operated for operating said connection and tilting said shelf relative to said ticket-chute.

JAMES P. FREY. 

